It’s time to take your online customer service to the next level.
This post is especially for you, owner of an E-commerce or SaaS provider that aims to have a business of excellent quality. Your main goal is to sustain an easy-to-use, helpful service that will make you big fish in the market. You want new clients and take your company to the next level but you don’t have the right mechanisms to support them. So, how to improve your online customer service?
The first step is to think like a user. Imagine you are Martha, an authentic nerd that loves reading comics and watch Netflix all day. You go to this website and see that new J.K Rowling book you were waiting for months! Have a blog that you write every weekend and you were so excited to show some reviews on this one. So, you click on the article, try to purchase but you can’t find out how to make the payment. Puff. No book, no post, no life. You are freaking out! What do you do? A bookworm like you will not even bother to contact the company and of course, search through all online shops to find it. Right?
In this “always on the run” society, we expect quick, precise answers without having to contact anyone or engage in research. Besides, a bad customer service can cost thousands! Statistics show that 68% of consumers stopped doing business with a brand because the online self-service failed.
Dissatisfied customers will determinate the reputation of your company and this can be a reason to run out of business. People will not use your service again, they will not recommend it to their friends or family and will end up sharing their poor experience on social media. Last but not least, like Martha, they will move on to another page and purchase from a competitor’s site.
What do you do?
Learn from other customer service experiences
Check your competitors’ support service, analyze user behavior, note your most requested issues, ask for customer feedback… But whatever you do, don’t ignore them. You have to learn the most from these situations so you can draw conclusions and make improvements.
If your users often leave the payment page, it’s probably because it’s not intuitive, guide them. If 45% of your support calls are about a particular feature, create a video tutorial about it.
Adaptability is key in the customer service game.
Make clear why your product is unique and better
Do you have a different design? What is the value of using your service? Let your users know why they need your brand instead of the competitors’. Help them decide faster. Make it clear from the moment they enter your website, we all have busy lives and lots to choose from.
A great way to do it is by highlighting particular areas of your website, so the user can read and explore the most important first. Create a product that speaks to users before they even ask. Or a welcoming video, users always fall for those.
Consider using interactive user guides
No one likes what they cannot understand. Create step-by-step guides, tooltips or even an AI bot. These tools will make your viewer’s experience much better and interactive right from the start, leading to a faster Product Adoption.
Show them which steps they need to take to complete their tasks and let them have a good understanding of your product. By using tutorials and tooltips you build a better approach towards your public and increase the possibility of gaining more reliable clients. Besides, they will not even need to contact an agent every time.
Remember happier users, happier business!
Top photography by Alejandro Ecamilla
